The European Union will further boost its research and innovation cooperation with its strategic partners Brazil and South Africa in order to better understand marine ecosystems and climate. The three sides launched today the South Atlantic Research and Innovation Flagship Initiative and signed a joint Statement on Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Cooperation.

The European Commission today granted the legal status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) to the e-Science and Technology European Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (LifeWatch).

A first-of-a-kind demonstration project that converts wave energy into electrical power, which could be a major step forward in the quest to find new sources of sustainable energy, will be built thanks to an EU loan of €10 million from the new InnovFin Energy Demo Project Facility.

Innovation Deals, a new pilot scheme launched by the European Commission today, aim to help innovators with promising solutions to environmental issues to navigate regulatory challenges to bringing their ideas to market.

Interesting data is available about the results of ongoing PCPs funded by FP7. Data shows first impacts on opening the market for new players, creating cross-border growth opportunities for companies, bringing research results to the market and contribution to growth and job creation in Europe.

Get ready to submit your proposal to the next call: the "open" PCP call (deadline 12 April 2016). It finances 90% of the coordination and procurements costs for pre-commercial procurements (PCP) in "any" domain of public interest that requires ICT based solutions.